In a market inundated with clean competitors, precision has been 15-year-old Captain Blankenship’s overriding strategy in the last few years.
After a rebrand in 2022, the self-funded brand went from as many as 35 stockkeeping units across haircare, body care, fragrance and skincare to seven higher priced SKUs packaged in blue and green aluminum bottles. The price of its shampoo and conditioner increased $1 to $29, and its Hair & Scalp Serum, formerly Mermaid Hair Oil, increased from $24 to $48 along with doubling in size.
Captain Blankenship also went from casting a wide net for stockists to focusing on direct-to-consumer distribution, with carefully selected entrances into upscale retailers, including its latest coup, a placement in all of Erewhon’s 10 locations. DTC constitutes half of Captain Blankenship’s sales today versus 20% in 2017, and founder Jana Blankenship is interested in edging it up more to around 60%.
The focus has put Captain Blankenship squarely in the haircare category at a moment when it’s strong—prestige hair product sales in the first half of this year climbed 10%, according to market research firm Circana—and in front of well-heeled conscious shoppers not as affected by the economic winds as other shoppers and willing to pay a premium for products that align with their values. Captain Blankenship is a certified B Corp that prioritizes partnering with fellow B Corp-certified companies.
“It feels like we are in the right spot now. It was definitely a difficult decision to change course and find the focus, but I feel like we’re able to make a bigger impact,” says Captain Blankenship founder Jana Blankenship. “We needed time to rebuild, but we are on the road to growth now.”
The road to growth has Captain Blankenship landing at Free People, CAP Beauty, Beauty Heroes and Well.ca in addition to Erewhon, where its shampoo and conditioner has hit shelves. The brand has been an enduring member of the assortments at The Detox Market, Credo and Grove Collaborative. In the past, Captain Blankenship outsourced retail outreach, but has brought it in-house. Blankenship herself handles much of it.
“We needed time to rebuild, but we are on the road to growth now.”
The brand previously was in Whole Foods, Ulta Beauty, Sephora and Target, which it created a secondary line named Sailor for, and Blankenship imagines it returning to a beauty specialty retailer in the future, but recognizes that it’s an expensive undertaking to thrive at a large chain. In an interview with Beauty Independent in 2022, she suggested it can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to support such a retailer.
Before, Blankenship says, “We were really spread quite thin, and now it’s very much about intentional growth with wholesale, and we want to make sure we can actively support the accounts we’re working with.”
To support its Erewhon rollout, Captain Blankenship is turning attention to its presence at the natural grocer via public relations and social media. It’s tapping five to 10 influencers to pop by Erehwon stores to post about its products being in them, and Blankenship plans to pop by at some point. The brand regularly seeds products to roughly 100 sustainability and clean beauty influencers. Email and affiliate marketing have been critical for the brand, too. It’s only advertised in a limited capacity, but will be ramping it up.
To tell the story of its haircare, Captain Blankenship has zeroed in on its hero ingredient, seaweed. Its taglines is, “Seaweed-powered haircare.” In its products, it features a blend of five certified organic seaweeds—Atlantic wakame, oarweed, bladderwrack, rockweed and Atlantic nori—rich in essential vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
“This opportunity is going to be huge for us.”
Next year, Captain Blankenship expects to release five products that lean into hairstyling and seaweed. A soon-to-launch hair gel is 30% seaweed and incorporates a cold-processed kelp extract called Big Kelp Hydration from marine extract company Macro Oceans that Blankenship describes as zero waste and boosting shine and hold. She says, “You can’t help but go into a clean beauty store or a grocery store and see seaweed. We lead with seaweed, but, of course, it’s about efficacy.”
Blankenship aims to expand Captain Blankenship at top natural grocers and eco-salons patronized by its core 30- to 45-year-old female audience. Shoppers with fragrance sensitivities are a target of the brand as Blankenship is allergic to synthetic fragrance and steers clear of it in her brand’s formulas. For salons, it has back-bar options for its shampoo and conditioner and anticipates populating the rest of the line with them.
“The consumers coming to us are moms like myself who are incredibly concerned about the ingredients they’re using on themselves and their families,” says Blankenship. “It’s something she can feel good about…But it’s not enough just to be clean for us. It’s about elevating the brand with playful packaging that stands out on the shelf in a sea of black and white bottles.”
Prior to Captain Blankenship reentering beauty specialty retail, Blankenship has designs on raising external capital to ensure the brand has the proper funds to facilitate a successful partnership. In the meantime, she’s celebrating its Erewhon debut.
“It’s been a dream. When I’m in LA, that’s where I am,” says Blankenship. “It’s something we’ve wanted for a long time, and it opens up the premium natural grocer and wellness space where the brand fits really well. I think this opportunity is going to be huge for us.”
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